Former York woman gets prison in assault on cop, spent 18 months on the run

A former York City woman who fled the state while pregnant and awaiting sentencing on a charge of felony assault on a police officer unsuccessfully tried to withdraw her plea Monday, claiming police lied about her actions.

"She's shown absolutely no remorse," deputy prosecutor Dave Mueller said of Magalie Maisonet. "It's been all about her throughout the entire process."

Maisonet, 32, of Clearwater, Fla., fled because she has children and was concerned about going to jail, defense attorney Mike Fenton said recently. She has family members in Florida, he said.

On Monday, Common Pleas Judge Gregory M. Snyder sentenced the woman to 1-½ to three years in prison, according to court records. He refused to allow her to withdraw her plea.

Maisonet was captured in Pinellas County, Fla., on May 16 on a fugitive warrant obtained by York County, according to Florida officials.

At her much-delayed sentencing hearing Monday, Maisonet alternately insisted police were lying, then the next moment claimed she'd been too intoxicated the night of the incident to remember what happened, according to Mueller.

She also told the judge her children were taken by child-welfare workers in Florida when she was captured, and indicated the Florida agency temporarily took custody of her children on a previous occasion, Mueller said.

The background: Maisonet pleaded no contest in October 2011 to aggravated assault on a police officer and resisting arrest. She was free pending her sentencing hearing, set for Nov. 28.

But she failed to appear for that proceeding and fled the state.

Court records state she assaulted York City Officer Kyle Pitts on Jan. 22, 2011. York City Police said she choked Pitts, pulled his communications radio from its holster and struck him in the head with it.

The alleged assault happened one day after Hector Morales -- the father of at least one of Maisonet's children -- was convicted of first-degree murder. As she left the courtroom after Morales' conviction, she called out, "Thank you for hurting our kids!"

Morales was later sentenced to death.

Maisonet took the stand at Morales' penalty-phase hearing and urged jurors to spare his life. She told them it's wrong to take a father from his children.

Children: For her own criminal case, Maisonet made a similar argument prior fleeing the state, chief deputy prosecutor David Sunday has said.

"She wrote a letter to the judge; in it she said she's pregnant (and has) four kids, and if she goes to state prison the children will be without a mother and on the street," he said. "Of course, everyone is concerned for children. But you can't give people free passes for assault because they have children."

Morales, 30, of York, remains on death row. He tried to avoid a 10-year prison sentence by killing the police informant set to testify against him in his felony drug-dealing case.

The victim, Ronald Lee Simmons Jr., 42, was fatally shot in his York City home about 1 a.m. July 16, 2009.

Morales broke into the home while the victim and his wife were asleep and gunned down Simmons on the stairs as he walked out of his bedroom, police said.

- Staff writer Liz Evans Scolforo can also be reached at levans@yorkdispatch.com.